1. Field
Apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a working machine including a working head moving along a guide beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic component mounting apparatus for mounting an electronic component, such as an integrated circuit (IC) chip, on a printed circuit board is an example of a working machine that includes a working head moving along a guide beam. FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic component mounting apparatus of the related art which includes a mounting head 100 as a working head, where the mounting head 100 includes a nozzle. The mounting head 100 is movable in an X-direction along a guide beam, referred to as an X-direction beam 200. The X-direction beam 200 straddles over a pair of Y-direction beams 300 that are spaced apart from each other in the X-direction and the X-direction beam is installed on the Y-direction beams 300. The X-direction beam is movable in the Y-direction along the Y-direction beams 300. As such, the mounting head 100 may freely move in the X-direction and the Y-direction within a horizontal plane according to a combination of the X-direction beam 200 and the Y-direction beam 300. According to a combined movement in the X-direction and the Y-direction, the mounting head 100 moves to a component supply unit (not shown), picks up an electronic component from the component supply unit by using a nozzle, moves to a predetermined mounting location of a printed circuit board (not shown), and then mounts the electronic component at the predetermined mounting location of the printed board.
In order to drive the electronic component mounting apparatus, power needs to be supplied to the mounting head 100 or the like. In the related art, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication JP 2008-243839, power is supplied to the mounting head 100 from an external power source by using a cable, and a Cableveyor™ 210 is used to move a direct power feeder, such as a cable or a slip ring, within range of the mounting head 100 in the X-direction.
However, abrasion or disconnection is not completely prevented by using such a power supply method, and when the Cableveyor™ is installed to provide power to a mounting head 100, operational range of the mounting head in an X-Y direction is limited. Thus, even when a plurality of mounting heads are mounted on one X-direction beam to improve mounting efficiency, operational range of each mounting head is not sufficiently obtained, and it is difficult in practice to install the plurality of mounting heads on one X-direction beam.
Such power supply problems are not limited to the electronic component mounting apparatus and are common to a working machine that includes a working head moving along a guide beam.